A few months ago, an announcement was made that Marvel Studios had reacquired the film rights to The Punisher movie series from Lionsgate. The plan at the time was to redevelop the series into a more faithful portrait of main character Frank Castle and his storyline. Seems plans have changed. Alternately, Fox has just announced the thumbs-up over the creation of a pilot for a new Punisher TV show that will likely put a new light on the character. According to Deadline, The Punisher is described as an hour-long procedural with a Marvel signature and a new take on one of the comic book giant’s iconic characters, Frank Castle, a rising star detective with the New York Police Department who moonlights as the vigilante Punisher, seeking justice for those the system has failed.”

This new series will be produced by Ed Bernero along side of Marvel. This series marks the first television program sale outside of ABC for Marvel, which is owned by the Disney Corporation. ABC is currently working on pilots based off of the comic book series the Hulk and Alias, which will be retitled A.K.A Jessica Jones. Comic book tv adaptations seem the thing to do this year as Fox is also working on the upcoming drama, The Spectre, based off of a DC superhero created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily

The question now stands – can the small screen handle the brutality usually administered by the Punisher? Or are they going to tone it down?